Trump said he wasn't Islamophobic and then launched into an
explanation of his "street sense."

He pointed to his 2000 book
that warned of the threat of threat of Osama bin Laden before
the September 11, 2001, terror attacks. The Washington Post's
fact-checking operation
has accused Trump of exaggerating his prediction.

"I am a person who happens to be very smart. And I happen to have
a certain street sense and I know where things are going," Trump
said.

"I said take out Osama bin Laden in a book, written in the year
2000 called, 'The
America We Deserve,'" he continued. "I said, 'You better be
careful because I saw this guy Osama bin Laden,' probably on
television. I said, 'Take him out.' He knocked down the World
Trade Center."

As Lemon has
done before, he asked Trump on Wednesday about his
potential prejudice in the aftermath of a campaign-trail
firestorm involving a minority group.

Trump announced a proposal on Monday to suspend virtually all
Muslim travel into the US — including immigrants and tourists —
in order to reduce the risk of terrorism. Republican and
Democratic critics blasted the plan as unconstitutional and
unethical, but Trump has held his ground.

Trump's responses to Lemon were similar to what he told ABC's
Barbara Walters
the day before.